just so you know
by asterisk'd
Summary: The King, having told Komugi about the poison that would soon kill them both, wishes for her to understand who/what exactly she's committing to.


"It is only fair to warn you...I have been poisoned."

Despite their impending deaths, Komugi had never been happier in her life. She cried freely, and with the King expressing a new and vulnerable concern for her, she cried even harder. She would stay with him. It was all she wanted, and with a decisive _clack_ , she placed her knight on the board to let him know so.

Komugi thought she heard the faintest sigh across from her. And then-

"If you truly want to stay, there's something else you should know." She heard him shift slightly. "Even though I took over as King of your land, my suborinates and myself are not..."

"Human!" Komugi supplied with a nod. "I found out when you took my hand after the bird attacked me, Supreme Ru-Meruem-sama." She held up her hand. "Four big fingers! And I hear the way your footsteps hit the ground, the way you walk is different from most people. And something swishes the air around you, w-wings, or a tail?"

The King was silent, so she continued to ramble, slightly nervous. "I don't know what that all means, exactly! I just know you're an amazing gungi player and a nice...person."

He huffed a small laugh. "I'm not nice, Komugi."

"O-Of course you are, Meruem-sama! You might have been different before but, you saved me from that bird and played gungi with me and you're here, now, when you could be with literally anybody else..." She sniffled. How could he not see how kind he was?

A swish through the air-the wings or the tail. "I'm not the same person I used to be, it is true. But...it would be hard to explain exactly what I am. Hold on."

Komugi barely had time to process the disatisfaction in his words before she heard him moving. She opened her mouth to ask what he was going to do but snapped it shut when she felt a solid presence sit next to her. _Next_ to her!

Heart thumping nervously (excitedly) in her chest, she felt his cool, strange fingers slip under hers.

"Here, Komugi."

He lifted her hand and placed it on his face.

Flushing deeply, she retracted her fingers and waved them in front of her. "N-no way, Meruem-sama, I couldn't possibly-"

"Komugi."

She jumped at the command. Face on fire, sniffling from nerves, she realized she didn't have much choice in the matter. How embarrassing, though, that she couldn't simply know how he looked like everyone else would be able to. How sad that this had to happen right now, of all times.

The cool hand was back around hers, lifting it to his face once again.

She swallowed, pressing the pads of her fingertips against his cheek. The skin felt velvety, smooth but with less give than human skin. Huh...She moved her fingers slowly, running over his cheekbone, up and over his eyelid, feeling long lashes. A sloped nose. Something brushed the back of her hand, and she left his face momentarily to touch what felt like-

"It's an antenna." Meruem supplied, his breath warm across her hand. An antenna?

"Are you a bug, Meruem-sama?"

He puffed a laugh through his nose, his cheeks moving upward under her returned hand in a small smile. "Yes, and no."

His cheeks were oddly warmer now, Komugi thought dazedly. Her other hand joined in.

"Um. Meruem-sama, you are...pretty." Her own face felt very hot as her fingertips found his lips. They were full, soft. She was sure he was about to reprimand her for going too far, but-

"Pretty?" The word formed under her fingers. It was said very quietly.

He wasn't mad? "I mean, I think so anyway! I-I'm probably not the best judge, but, you feel handsome."

He hummed and she felt the vibration through his skin as her left hand drifted gently down his throat. Her own skin felt like it was _burning_ , she was so embarrased, but so engrossed in this strange moment she felt her eyes slide open.

Meruem hummed, the tail (?) behind him moving through the air.

"Komugi, did you know your eyes are green?"

Swallowing again, heart thumping, she let her fingers slide from his jawline up to his forehead. "I-I didn't know that...but I also don't really know what that means..." Her fingers encountered something smooth and solid, and she felt upward.

"Is this a helmet?"

"I...suppose it is. It is part of me."

How strange...how right. "It is your crown." She whispered, nodding to herself, and Meruem let out the slightest of breaths against her wrist.

She suddenly felt his hand on hers again, strong digits wrapping around hers. "Komugi, I feel hungry."

"O-oh! Um, should we find you something to eat?" She didn't understand the strange disappointment that flitted through her heart.

"Not for food. It's a bizarre hunger, I've never felt it before."

Compelled by something, Komugi slowly lifted her free hand back to his face, running her thumb across his cheekbone. She didn't know where her daring was coming from. "What should we do?"

He tilted his face, leaning into her palm. "I can't eat you. I don't know why I should feel the need to put my mouth on you."

The hand cradling his face flew off, a hot flush flowing over her skin. Surely he wasn't. Surely he didn't mean. For Komugi?

"M-M-Meruem-sama, I-"

His hand was now cupping _her_ cheek. It felt rough against her over-warm skin. Her breath was coming out in short puffs, unseeing eyes open through half-lids. "I-I've never...I never dreamed..."

"Hmm?" He was so near.

She licked her lips, and suddenly there was something warm and soft pressing there.

Her face cradled in between his large hands, he slotted his mouth against hers eagerly with a contained force Komugi could feel in his palms and in the heartbeat in his skin. He didn't move, the two sitting very still in a closed-mouth kiss. She closed her eyes again, feeling the innocence and sincerity in his lips, in the way he held her.

A tear slid down her cheek, and consequently against his.

He pulled away, keeping her face between his hands. "Komugi?" He ran his thumb through the tear, wiping it across her cheek.

"I-I'm sorry, Meruem-sama." For this entire exchange, she had forgotten about the gungi came in progress. Somehow, it has slipped her mind entirely as she found something she so very suddenly wanted more. She was ashamed. And...sad.

"What for? If anything, I should apologize to you. I'm not sure what that was, but, I feel myself wanting more of it. I did not consider what you wanted, however, so I am sorry if that was something wrong."

She could feel the denial in his words, as though despite the apology, he didn't feel he had committed a wrong in the slightest. And he was right. She wanted to tell him how right he had been, but that was for another Komugi and another Meruem-this wasn't their place. This wasn't for them. She felt, for the first time in her life, regret; she had been so focussed on gungi and on winning she never once considered anything like this. With what little time they had left, they would never be granted something as sweet. It would forever remain a potential, a could have been, and the loss was a spike in her heart.

She sniffed, straightening her back. His hands left her face.

"It's okay, Meruem-sama. I'm sorry we can't feed you more with what time we have left, but we have some gungi to play!"

As though coming out of hypnosis, the King was up and away from her in a flash.

"You're right," came his voice from across the board, "a strange distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. We will carry on this game."

She let herself touch her lips gently with one hand as she boxed him into a checkmate. In another life, perhaps.


End file.
